Robot 6

2009 is lookin’ fine

As Chris goes through the 2009 catalogs of various publishers like Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly, I thought I’d share a few update on future projects that creators have mentioned on their blogs. First, over on his blog Red Window, Scott Morse says he’s working on a follow-up to The Ancient Book of Myth and War called The Ancient Book of Sex and Science. He’s also got another Magic Pickle book coming out in 2009, as well as what sounds like a gigantic bunch of awesomeness, a ’50s monster book called Ten Against the World:

*TEN AGAINST THE WORLD is in the works, I’m pleased to officially announce. It’s a 160 (or so) page Kirby/Toth-inspired monster comic set in the 1950’s, lots of comic book fun I’m certain Wertham would love. There’s a teaser above. It’s being produced entirely in Photoshop on my Cintique, no pencils, just straight digital black, white, and blue, as an experiment in economics and speed. I’m about 40 pages in at this point. Keep your eyes and ears open for this one, as it may actually hit initially in online installments.

Next, Alex Robinson’s Too Cool To Be Forgotten has been popping up on year-end best of lists here and there (Tim O’Shea had it on his), and over on his LiveJournal he talks about the project he’s just starting starring Santa Claus:

I seem to have finished my script for A Kidnapped Santa Claus. I say “seem” because I will undoubtedly fine tune it as I go.
This is the first time in my entire life I’ve scripted out an entire story from beginning to end, and I gotta say, I don’t know how you people do it. It was an ordeal! Trying to create scenes, just picturing them in my head, only with a keyboard and no visual component was a real challenge. Ideally, we’ll see this paying off with the drawing phase of the book going a lot faster (I hope so since my deadline is closer than I would like!) and hopefully it will all have been worth it.

Amazing Joy Buzzards

Artist Dan Hipp notes that the next Amazing Joy Buzzards book he’s doing with Mark Andrew Smith was due in 2008, but as you might have noticed hasn’t come out yet:

Originally solicited for last month, the deadline came and went, with the book unfinished. It was well on it’s way to completion, but life decided it was time to get in the way, and production on the book has slowed. All I can say is that it’s awesome, it will still be finished, but I can’t tell you when. Truly, I am sorry, as that book has a slice of me sewn into the binding, and it saddens me that I can’t get it to you sooner.

He also says he’s working on the third volume of Gyakushu!, the first two volumes of which were published by Tokyopop before their implosion. He says it’ll likely appear online first, but print copies will appear … in Italy.

Lastly, it isn’t exactly an unannounced project, but Neil Gaiman shares some really nice Andy Kubert artwork from their Batman two-parter over on his blog. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom …